I said that I’d try to get a post up this weekend about a GPL thing that’s been going on, but just never got around to it until late tonight.

Anyway, a while back I mentioned that I’d found this great little search toolbar and I even contributed a bit to it. It’s licensed under the GPL, which has been likened to a virus, but nonetheless is a valid license for free software. The way it works is that you can freely use/distribute/sell/do whatever with a GPL program, you are given the source code, and you are free to modify it, and create derivative products. Fairly open with respect to what you can do with it. The catch (you knew there would be one) is that you have to license any derivative works under the GPL as well.

Enough background. Anyway, Dave’s QuickSearch Deskbar is licensed under the GPL, and some bozo came along and stole the code, throwing a quick layer of “encryption” (really just a 32 bit XOR, which is pretty weak) over the xml configuration files, then trying to sell his product for $30. Now, keep in mind that if he’d released the source to the code that he’d taken, he could charge whatever he wanted for it, but no, that would be one step away from admitting that you have competition that is free, and better.

The person was confronted, they denied any wrongdoing. They were presented with proof, they merely moved the stolen code to a place that will be slightly more difficult to find, compiling it right into their executable. Once again, they could have just left the code as is, and released it to the public, but the simple, legal, honest way just doesn’t seem to register with some people. It’s almost comical actually, especially since the code was stolen almost six months ago, and the DQSD has improved a whole lot since then (including supporting more than twice as many searches…)

So, anyway, the lawyers got involved, and now we play the waiting game.

Simpson’s quote of the weekend: “Aw, the waiting game sucks, let’s play Hungry Hungry Hippos” - Homer